A motorist has been fined £420 for speeding and having no vehicle tax.

Thirty-one-year-old Jacob Alan Shimmin appeared before magistrates admitting both offences, and also had his licence endorsed with six penalty points.

Prosecuting advocate Victoria Kinrade told the court that police were performing speed checks outside Marown Church in Crosby, on August 26 last year.

Using a handheld laser device, they recorded Shimmin driving his BMW 320d at 46mph in a 30mph zone.

He was subsequently stopped and checks found that his vehicle tax had expired on March 31, 2024.

The vehicle was seized, but Shimmin, who lives at Larch Hill in Douglas, paid the backdated tax to release it the following day.

Defence advocate Helen Lobb asked for credit to be given for her client’s guilty pleas, and said that he had owned up to the offences immediately and apologised.

Ms Lobb said that the tax issue had been an oversight and that Shimmin had held a clean driving licence for around 10 years.

Magistrates also ordered the defendant to pay £50 prosecution costs, and he agreed to pay all amounts within seven days.